Don't Fall Before You're Pushed
by XxBarbi3xX
Summary: Danelyn grew up never knowing love, will she ever find it? or is she doomed to live a life of darkness and evil like her parents? takes place during GOF and beyond; doesn't follow books/movies exactly. rated M to be safe; Please R&R
1. a most peculiar afternoon

**A.N.; I only own Danelyn and all other O.C.'s. Any character/material that you fond familiar is owned solely by J.K. Rowling. Please review and let me know what you think. **

Danelyn Riley Riddle was peculiar sort of girl. Growing up she never quite seemed to fit in with any of the other children in the foster homes she was so often shipped to. No one really understood where she had come from, since she had been in the care of multiple orphanages and later, foster homes since she was no more than 2 years old, and had remained there until around the age of thirteen when a mysterious letter had arrived at her current home by way of owl.

Danelyn would never forget that day. The way Mrs. Felch (whom Danelyn refused to ever consider thinking of as a mother-figure) had screeched at the top of her lungs upon seeing the large, barn owl sitting on the kitchen table that morning. Danelyn had rushed down to the aid of Mrs. Felch, along with the other 12 foster children who she had promptly upon learning them, forgotten all of their names, since for Danelyn every foster family was exactly the same, she would arrive, stay a few weeks, and promptly be thrown out and sent to live somewhere else. As all of the children attempted to squeeze into the tiny kitchen, Danelyn had stayed behind, as she was not wishing to have another anxiety attack from once again being herded into to small of an area with the filth she was expected to treat as "siblings". Danelyn had only momentarily returned from her thoughts of the disgusting beings crowded in front of her, when she noticed that she was swiftly being shoved forward by 2 of her rather burly "brothers". Upon reaching the front of the crowd she noticed Mrs. Felch, pointing a rather shaky finger at the owl who was now coking its head slyly to the side as it studied Danelyn, then swiftly flying forward to land on her shoulder and drop the letter in her startled hands, before flying quickly out the window. Danelyn looked down at the letter and noticed with a start that it was addressed to her.

That had been two weeks ago, and now as she layed in the sleeping bag on the floor of the tent in the backyard, that was expected to house all twelve of the children, she pulled out the letter again to reread it and make sure that it was not a dream.

_Dear Miss Danelyn Riley Riddle,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although our students usually begin their training at the age of eleven, we believe that with some remedial classes you should be able to start off the year in your fourth year as you would be had you began school on time. We apologize profoundly for not accepting you in on time, as it was incredibly difficult to track you down, and only now have we first caught wind of where you are currently living at this time._

_Your Aunt Narcissa Malfoy, and her husband Lucious will be arriving at noon on the 19__th__ of August to pick you up. As they are your only free-living relatives left they will be assuming full guardianship of you until you reach adulthood on your seventeenth birthday. It is with much faith that I am trusting them to better explain the current situation._

_Wishing you are well,_

_Albus Purcival Wuldric Brian Dumbledore_

_Headmaster _

That night Danelyn barely slept as the next day was the nineteenth of August. For the first time in her life Danelyn actually felt excited and a small amount of what she guessed to be hope.

****Sorry it's so short; I promise to upload another chapter or two later; but for now, your feedback is much appreciated****


	2. all is well or is it?

**A.N./ once again, sadly I own nothing but Danelyn; and any other O.C.'s all familiar characters and such, are the property of J.K. Rowling. Once again please R&R.**

The next morning Danelyn was awaken with a start as her "brothers" began viciously kicking her sleeping bag. The poor girl, groaned and rolled out of the bag, and climbed painfully into a standing position. She glared straight at the largest of her filthy "brothers" as though to question what his motives were. The boy quickly looked away and said quite timidly "Papa is looking for you". Danelyn sighed, and quickly left to go find Mr. Felch. She was vaguely aware of all the other foster children poking their dirty, nasty faces outta of the tent and whispering excitedly to one another, as they all knew that it was never a good sign when Mr. Felch wanted to see one of the children

Mr. Felch was a rather burly and, dirty man. He worked late hours and often went away on business. Most importantly, Mr. Felch hated children. He hated the smell of a child, the sound of their laughter, the brightness in their eyes when one of them smiled. It absolutely disgusted him to be within twenty feet of a child. That was why, although the Felch's house was quite large, about 6 bedrooms or so, he had sent the children to live out in a small tent in the backyard so he never had to deal with them.

All of the children knew to stay clear of Mr. Felch. Although no one knew exactly what it was he did for a living, they did however, know that when he arrived home from a business trip, he was always very cross. If there was one good thing about children in Mr. Felch's eyes, it was the thrill of beating one. Danelyn, being as quiet and awkward as she was, was Mr. Felch's favorite target. Nothing pleased him more than seeing bruises appear on her to light ivory skin, or yank on her long curly hair. But, his favorite part of all was the look in her golden green eyes, when he knew he had broken her.

As she cautiously entered the house, she glanced quickly at the clock. She felt a little flutter of excitement as she saw that it read 11:55, she knew that within the next 5 minutes her family, she felt a small thrill at the word, would be arriving to save her from the hell-hole she now called "home".

"where are you, you little twerp?", Mr. Felch's voice tore Danelyn from her thoughts, and she quickly entered the foyer, where sure enough, he was waiting for her.

"About God damned time, you showed your disgusting face", he snarled walking toward her, and grabbing tightly onto her hair and tugging it hard. This happened to Danelyn about every other day. He would call for her, and begin pulling her hair and beating her with anything he could get his hands on. Today would be a bright purple umbrella.

As he beat her he would always shout out things such as, "that hurts don't it bitch", or "you stupid little mute, I could kill you and no one would ever know the difference". That was the funny thing about all of Danelyn's foster homes, they always assumed she was mute, simply because she was to disgusted with her surroundings to feel the need to stoop to their level by conversing with them.

Today's beating was just the same as every other, except that today, Danelyn had to try extra hard not to glare at the man currently attacking her dirty hair. She knew that if she were to turn her full burning gaze on him it was quite possible that he would drop dead on the spot.

That was why Danelyn was never welcome in any home for long. Strange things were always happening when she was mad, resulting in many deaths that although she knew were her fault, she could really care less about. She knew that as much as she wanted to she couldn't let herself in any way, intentional or not, harm this disgusting creature. She didn't want to risk her aunt and uncle leaving her here once they realized what she really was and the unyielding powers she possessed.

As if by a miracle, just as Mr. Felch had pulled her hair so hard she nearly cried out, the doorbell sounded. Danelyn felt a surge of release as she was brutally shoved to the floor, as Mr. Felch went to open the door.

Danelyn swiftly stood up on proceeded to attempt to make herself look decent. Which, to say it was a challenge would be quite the understatement. Still, she straightened out her to big dress and tried to tame her wild hair, to hide the patches that she could feel bleeding from where Mr. Felch had ripped her hair clean out, as well as hiding the bald patches from her previous beatings.

Once she decided that she was as good as she could possibly make herself she gracefully entered the entry way to meet her fate. As she entered the room she noticed the rather peculiar family of bleach blondes standing in the door way. The man was tall and slender, with long blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail. The woman was tall and had dark brown incorporated into her hair, and was in Danelyn's opinion, by far the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes on. Standing near his parents was a boy who appeared to be around the same age as Danelyn. He had blonde hair and striking blue eyes. Danelyn found herself to be rather embarrassed by her disheveled appearance. She knew that she must look like a beggar child next to the family.

The woman was first to speak, "and who may you be?"

Danelyn flushed feverishly, "D-Danelyn Riley Riddle Ma'am".

There was a small gasp from Mr. Felch upon hearing Danelyn's voice for the first time. Danelyn herself was a little surprised that after not talking for so long she still remembered how.

"Very well", said the woman, "I am your aunt Naricissa, and this is your uncle Lucious, and cousin Draco".

"How do you do?", Danelyn asked politely to her new found family.

"Draco dear, would you please help this pitiful girl find the rest of her belongings, being near all these muggles is making me ill", Narcissa said fanning herself dramatically with her hand.

"This is all I've got", Danelyn said shyly indicating the filthy dress she was wearing.

"very well then" Narcissa said, turning on her heel and walking out the door to the shiny black town car parked out front. Danelyn hurried behind quickly so as not to be left behind.

As she sat in the back next to her cousin, who's name she couldn't remember for the life of her, she looked out the window at the scenery passing by as they drove to a safe place to 'aparate' as her cousin had whispered to her. Although she hadn't the faintest clue what it meant to 'aparate' she was relieved to be leaving the nasty Felch's behind.

As they traveled further and not one warm word or smile was given towards her, Danelyn realized with a start, that this was not the family she had ordered, and wondered if she would be just as miserable with them as she had been her whole life so far.


	3. home sweet home

**A.N./ here's chapter three; I really hope y'all enjoy it. As always, any familiarities belong to J.K. Rowling. Please R&R thank you**

It had been a long afternoon for Danelyn, and to say she was tired would be an understatement. She had not realized that to 'aparate' meant to disappear from one place and end up in another. She decided shortly after their arrival at the mansion found her flat on her bum in a small pond, that she hated apparating. That had been two hours ago and Danelyn could not shake the uneasy feeling in her stomach as she tried to focus on the tour her cousin, whom she now knew to be named 'Draco', was giving her of the expansive estate.

She snapped out of her thoughts as Draco announced that they had finally arrived at her room. "Dinner is served promptly at 7:30, and is a formal affair. I expect that mother has filled your closet with some clothing that should be around your size, so please try not to look like such a peasant at supper."

Danelyn only nodded, so Draco turned and quickly walked down the hallway. Danelyn took a shaky breath to prepare herself for the monstrosity she was expecting her room to be. After opening the door she sighed allowed and a wide smile spread across her face.

The room was perfect. It was rather large and very spacious. The walls were painted a light, sky blue, and the carpet was a super plush crisp white. The bed, she was delighted for the first time in her life to actually have a bed, was king-sized, and four poster. It was a light wood, which Danelyn couldn't place, with shades of blue coverings, and long gauzy curtains hanging around it. Directly across from the bed, was an expansive fire place with a large white mantle that housed a single silver picture frame with a picture of a young woman with long, dark, curly hair who was laughing uncontrollably. Danelyn noticed with a start that due to the resemblance in their hair, this must be a photograph of her mother.

As Danelyn continued to explore the room, she was thrilled to discover her huge walk in closet. The closet seemed to be nearly as large as her room. It had two walls to hang clothes, and an entire wall dedicated to shoes and accessories. Taking up the fourth wall was a huge vanity with a mirror encircled in fragile looking silver designs that appeared to be flowers. As Danelyn leaned in to closer examine the frame-work she was startled to see her appearance.

Her skin, which was always a light, nearly translucent ivory, was covered in about 6 months' worth of dirt. She seemed far too skinny for her original body type. Although she was naturally thin, she looked as though she had not eaten a bite of food in a very long time. She was sad to see that her hair was looking even more disheveled than she had feared, with bits of leaves and twigs sticking out of the unruly curls, and her entire head was covered in bald patches. But, by far the worst thing about her appearance was the lack of life in her eyes. Her usually sparkling gold-green eyes were flat and lifeless and not a hint of color could be seen on her face.

Danelyn stifled a sob and ran quickly out of the room and away from the dreadful mirror. She felt that she was to dirty to inhabit the room at her current state. And it was far too beautiful for her to stomach the thought of soiling it, so she quickly opened the last door that she was thrilled to discover was a large white-marble bathroom.

Upon spotting the tub, Danelyn quickly drew the water for her bath and set about locating everything she would need to fix her appearance. Danelyn was pleasantly surprised to find that everything she would need had already been sat out for her on a silver tray. She quickly began reading labels and discovered honeysuckle scented shampoo, conditioner and soap. Along with a deep conditioning treatment and a hair-growing potion to grow back her hair where it had been torn out.

As soon as the bath was full, Danelyn stripped herself of her oversized filthy dress and climbed into the water, savoring the feel against her grimy skin.

After about an hour in the tub, Danelyn emerged from the bathroom wrapped in a fluffy white towel. She felt as though she were a whole new person. She eagerly crossed her room and entered the closet to pick her outfit and get ready for dinner, since she was alarmed to see, she only had one hour to get ready for. She decided on a long purple dress that was simple yet elegant. It was a dark, plum-like purple, with a thick strap on one shoulder. The material wrapped daintily around her mid-section before cascading gracefully to the floor. With it she chose a pair of small silver heels and a pair of simple diamond stud earrings. Thankful that the foster mother she had at age 9 had insisted she pierce her ears.

After getting dressed Danelyn ran a brush through her damp curls and let them air dry, creating a small French braid head-band with the front section of her hair. She didn't apply any make-up besides a small amount of lip-gloss and a small dab of mascara on each eye. Just as Danelyn emerged from the closet there came a small knock on her door. She took a deep-breath and smoothed out her skirt before opening the door to find a very shocked looking Draco, who was handsomely dressed in a crisp navy blue suit.

"Mother has asked me to escort you to the dining room", was all he said before turning and walking swiftly down the hall. Danelyn gave herself only a moment to calm her nerves before hurrying after her cousin to endeavor in her first family dinner.


	4. to be loved

**A.N./ I've been considering creating a banner for this story. However, I can't seem to find a model that looks like Danelyn. If you have any suggestions please let me know! It would be much appreciated. Anywho; here is chapter for I hope y'all enjoy**** (:**

***I only own Danelyn; anything familiar is still the property of J.K. Rowling.***

****Content Warning: there is a small amount of Adult Content in this chapter including sexual content and rape;; if you don't like then you don't have to read the italicized section, and it shouldn't take away too much from the story** **

Upon, arriving back from dinner, Danelyn slammed her bedroom door so hard that the photograph of her mother fell off of the mantle and shattered. She didn't care one bit. All she knew was that she was positively livid, and had she stayed in that dining room one second longer one or more of the Malfoys would have ended up dead.

With a loud huff Danelyn threw herself onto the floor. To say that the supper had gone bad would be the understatement of the century. It had gone absolutely horrid. Not only had she been served meat, but her Uncle couldn't seem to keep his hands off of her body under the table. Danelyn shuddered at the thought. She could tell upon meeting him that Lucious was creepy, but she had never realized that he would go so far as to attempt to defile his own niece. And in the presence of his wife no less!

Danelyn was absolutely outraged. With a loud grunt, she pulled herself off of the floor, and stormed into her closet, where she promptly took off her dress and changed into a small, black silk night gown. She exited the closet and quickly turned off all of her lights, before climbing into bed. She figured if she had no way to vent her anger she may as well sleep it off.

Danelyn had been asleep for no more than three hours before a slight rustling near her bed woke her. She glanced quickly at the clock to find it reading 2 am. Her heart began pounding as she heard the noise again. She quickly sat up and came face to face with her uncle who was smiling sadistically down at her.

Danelyn opened her mouth to scream but Lucious quickly uttered a spell silencing the girl completely.

"_You didn't honestly think that I wouldn't come to finish what was started at dinner did you?", he whispered climbing onto the bed with her. She quickly attempted to move away from him but he was faster and grabbed her arm and pulled her to him. "If I were you I suggest you be good a good girl or I'll see to it that you are thrown back out onto the streets"_

_She struggled to keep herself from crying or glaring death at the man. She knew that he had a point and that without the Malfoys she would go back to living among the filth she had grown up with. She heard him laugh softly in her ear before begging to trail sloppy kisses down the side of her neck, and reaching over to fondle her breast. She stifled a sob as his hand moved downward on her body. _

"_That's a good girl" he kept whispering in her ear as he continued touching her in all of her most personal places "let uncle Lucious show you what it's like to be loved". She closed her eyes tightly as he shifted to take off his pants, and began sliding off her panties. He then pulled off her night gown and back on the bed. As she fall back Danelyn's head cracked against one of the wooden posters, and stars began swimming in her eyes. She struggled to stay conscious, but as she felt the instant pain of her uncle entering her fragile body, the darkness became too much and she succumbed to it. _

A while later Danelynn began to become aware of her surroundings. She sat up quickly to find that her uncle had gone, and she was once again alone. She found that her whole body hurt in ways she had never known were possible. Her uncle's words kept ringing in her ears, and she began to wonder if that really was what love was. All her life, all Danelyn had ever wanted was to feel loved. And even though she knew it was wrong, she liked the way she felt special knowing that it was her that her uncle had chosen to "love".

Over the next few days, Danelyn kept mostly to her room, except for the rare occasions when Draco would come calling to escort her to the library to meet with her tutor who taught her all she needed to know about the wizarding world. Although it had only been a week since her arrival at the Malfoy manor, she had already absorbed all of the knowledge she needed to know about the world she was now a part of.

Danelyn smiled to herself as she sat down in the library, holding a book in her hands about all of the most famous dark wizards. Just the day before, she had learned who her father was, and she found that she was exceptionally proud to call the Dark Lord her father. She was also proud of who her mother was and couldn't wait for her mother to return from Azkaban, so they could finally meet. It warmed Danelyn's heart a little to know that she came from such a strong background.

She stifled a small yawn, as she had not been getting much sleep, since her uncle had been visiting her each night since her first night. She found that she was getting rather fond of Lucious's visits and almost seemed to yearn for them. It was the first time in her entire life that she truly felt as if someone cared for her.

"Dani", her cousin's voice pulled her from her book "we are preparing to leave in about one hour to go purchase your wand and then attend the quidditch world cup"

Danelyn stood quickly dropping the book back on top of the large pile of books next to her arm chair. She smiled warmly at Draco and allowed him to escort her to her room so she could get ready. She found that she was rather fond of the boy. They had talked everyday as he escorted her around the house and explained to her whatever it was that she was confused on. Although Draco wouldn't dare show it around his parents, he was growing quite fond of her to. There was something about her attitude and raw power that he found intriguing.

Upon, arriving at her room Danelyn rushed to get ready; she could not wait to finally hold her own wand in her hand and finally be able to say she was indeed a witch.

**A.N./ sorry if y'all aren't fond of her encounter with Lucious. I found that it was fairly crucial to the development of Danelyn as a person. Reviews would be nice I would love to hear your thoughts and questions on the story (:**


End file.
